The Chamber and Beyond
by This Endeavor
Summary: Harry saves Ginny from the Chamber of secrets. He feels guilty for not realizing that she was so lonely so he decides to be her friend. Little does he know that the new feeling he holds for the young redhead is that of more than just friendship.
1. Ch1 Fear of the Unknown

**Disclaimer:** **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

**A/N: **Hey guys its good to be back and writing again. This will be my second fic. I got the idea for this fic from reading a story that another author on this site wrote. I liked the original idea of the story so I decided to write my own along the same lines. However I'm sad to say that the original story hasn't been updated in over a year so I fear that it may have been discontinued. I liked the concept of the story and they wrote almost the same thing that I would have but I do have a couple of different ideas that I would like to try out. Anyways thanks for reading.

P.S. Be sure to review.

Jon

**Summary:**

Harry saves Ginny from the Chamber of secrets in his second year. He feels guilty for not realizing that she was so lonely. He decides to spend more time with her and be her friend. Little does he know that the new feeling he holds for the young redhead is one of more then just friendship. This story will take you from the time Harry and Ron find out Ginny was taken into the chamber of Secrets up until the end of the book. This fic is written in Harry's point of view.

P.S. These first few chapters are going to follow the book and movie very closely then the next couple will be my own ideas so bear with me.

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_**The Chamber and Beyond**_

_Ch.1_

_Fear of the Unknown_

'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.' The words kept replaying in his head over and over again. Harry just couldn't believe it. 'How could sweet, innocent Ginny Weasley have been taken?'

Harry looked over at Ron standing next to him and he could see the shock and panic written on his face. Harry couldn't begin to comprehend what was going through his best friends mind right now. 'How does one deal with the possibility of loosing their little sister?'

Harry was only half paying attention to what the teachers were saying at this point. His mind was picturing Ginny's face with the nervous smile and averting eyes that always seemed to cross her features when he was in the vicinity. He just couldn't believe that her life had been cut so short. Images of her frail broken form invaded his senses and he was overcome with dread; however when he heard Snape address Lockhart he was brought back to reality.

"It seems your moment has come at last Lockhart." Lockhart had the look of utmost confusion on his face at this statement and then Harry heard professor Sprout chime in. "That's right, Gilderoy, weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the chamber of secrets is?" A sudden look of recollection crossed Lockhart's features followed by a brief glimpse of nervousness, that Harry attributed to having to face the basilik, before his over inflated ego took over once more. Lockhart looked around at all the expectant faces of the other professors and then spoke, in a slightly stuttering voice. "V-very well, I'll -- I'll be in my office, getting -- getting ready." with that said he turned and left.

Harry and Ron left there hiding place and headed back to the common room. The whole way there Harry couldn't stop thinking of Ginny. 'Why was she the one that was taken into the chamber?' It didn't make sense. 'She was a pure blood, I thought the heir only killed muggleborns.' he kept playing every scenario over in his head. 'Maybe she saw the heir of Slytherin writing the messages on the wall?' or 'Maybe she found the entrance to the chamber and the heir took her in order to keep the secret?' or 'Maybe...' each explanation that popped into his head was even less likely then the next. By the time they made it to the common room Harry was even more confused then he was when he had started trying to figure out why Ginny was taken into the chamber.

It was perhaps the worst afternoon of their lives as Harry sat with Ron, Fred and George in silence. Each one of them was enveloped in their own thoughts and feelings. Harry was thinking about the times that he had spent with Ginny and conversations they held, albeit few and far between with her not muttering more than a few words, she was always so nervous around him. He looked around at the Weasleys in front of him and noticed that Percy wasn't there, then he remembered Ron saying something about him owling their parents to let them know what happened. He couldn't bear to think about how Mrs. Weasley would react to the news that her 'little girl' had been taken by the heir of Slytherin to die in the chamber. The Weasleys were like a family to him and he was filled with grief at their loss.

Ron timidly spoke up after what felt like hours of sitting in silence. "Harry, do you think there's any chance at all she's not -- you know --"

Harry thought about it for a second staying silent and looking at his hands. 'It had been at least 5 hours since Ginny was taken. Truthfully he couldn't see how there was any possibility that she was still alive.'

Ron spoke again. "I think we should tell Lockhart about what we know. He may be useless but he's going to try to get into the chamber."

Although Harry thought it might be a lost cause he agreed. Helping Lockhart might just give them the slimmer of hope that they all so desperately needed. Ron and Harry went up to the boys dormitory, grabbed Harry's invisibility cloak, threw it over themselves and headed back downstairs and out the portrait hole. When they approached Lockhart's office they took the cloak off them and Harry stuffed it in his pocket. When they were in front of the door they noticed it was slightly ajar and could hear the sound of hurried feet behind it. They pushed the door open to reveal Lockhart hurriedly packing the rest of his possessions into traveling cases.

"Going somewhere professor?" Harry said a confused tone in his voice.

'Ah Harry how good to yes you,... yes as a matter of fact I just got an owl from the Ministry, terribly urgent I must leave at once.' said Lockhart in a rush while he continued packing his things.

Harry looked at Ron and saw angry flash across his features. "But what about my sister! You can't leave now!"

Lockhart looked taken aback by Ron's outburst and a little nervous. "Terribly sorry about that but there's nothing I can do."

Ron looked murderous as he yelled at Lockhart. "But your the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher surely you cant leave now; not with all that's going on!" Ron was furious. "What about all those great things you did in your books! Surely you could defeat the monster and save her!"

"Books can be misleading..." replied Lockhart.

Ron was taken aback. "But you wrote them."

"Boy do use your common since. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I had done all those things!" Lockhart angrily retorted back.

Harry had a sudden comprehension. The reason why Lockhart was nervous when Snape mentioned him going into the chamber to fight the monster and the reason why Lockhart was unable to perform even the simplest spells correctly was because he was a fraud. He didn't do any of the great things he claimed to have done. He just found out about all the stories of monsters being defeated by wizards and witches and took credit for them.

Ron had a look of confusion on his face so Harry decided to speak up. "You're a fake. You've just been taking credit for what other witches and wizards have done."

Ron snapped out of his stated of confusion and yelled at Lockhart. "Is there anything you can do?!"

Lockhart's lips curved up into a small smirk as a look of pride crossed his features before he replied. "Yes actually. I'm rather good at memory charms; otherwise you see all the witches and wizards would have gone blabbing. In fact I'm going to have to do the same to you." Lockhart went to reach for his wand but Ron and Harry were to fast. They had their wands point at his chest before Lockhart could even grab hold of his.

Harry looked at Lockhart as if he was a piece of filth. "Drop your wand. You're coming with us."

Lockhart reluctantly dropped his wand and followed Harry out the door while Ron trailed behind them making sure Lockhart didn't try to make a run for it.

They walked in silence to girl's bathroom where Moaning Mertle resided in one of the stalls.

When they got there they questioned Mertle about how she died and she said that the last think she remembered was seeing a pair of large yellow eyes over by the sink. Harry walked over to the sink and began to examine it he looked over every inch until he noticed a carving of a snake on the tap.

Harry new this was it; that this was the entrance to the chamber. 'I just hope were not to late to save Ginny.' The mental image of her smiling coyly up at him flashed into his mind and he knew that it wouldn't be the same without her around.

Harry took a couple steps back from the sink and then began to speak in parsletounge. A strange hissing came out of his mouth and only he knew what he was saying. 'Show me your entrance.' Slowly the sink began to slide into the floor and a large hole in the ground appeared. It looked to be a sort of 'slide' that ran deep underneath the school.

Harry turned to Lockhart and heaved a sigh. "Right, well you first."

Lockhart started to tremble. "Now really boys, do you really think it best-" But Ron cut him off. "Better you then us."

Lockhart stepped to the edge nervously and turned his head so he could protest again but Harry and Ron pushed him in. Once he was down and gave the go ahead that it was okay to follow Harry and Ron slid down to join him.

As they traveled along the chamber they saw what appeared to be a giant snake skin. 

"Bloody hell, whatever shed this must have been 50 feet long (I forget the exact number), or more."

Lockhart collapsed on the ground appearing to have fainted. As Ron went over to check on him Lockhart sprang to his feet and grabbed Ron's wand out of his hand.

A triumphant look appeared on Lockhart's face. "Well this is where the adventure ends boys but don't fret the world will know our story, how I was to late to save the girl, how you two lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body." The smirk was once again present on Lockhart's face as he turned to Harry. "You first Mr. Potter. Say goodbye to your memories." Lockhart motioned with the wand and yelled. "OBLIVIATE!"

The spell traveled through Ron's wand until it hit the part where it had snapped in half, bound together by spellotape, it then shot back down the want into Lockhart sending him into the wall of the cave. Suddenly the whole cave started rumbling and Harry and Ron sprang apart as rocks started falling from the ceiling. Once all the shaking stopped Harry turned around and looked behind him and saw a solid wall of rubble separating him from Ron.

"Ron! Are you okay?!" Harry yelled through the rock

He heard a muffled reply. "Yah I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm alright what happened?" Harry answered back.

Lockhart's memory charm backfired on him. He hasn't got a clue who he is. Listen Harry, go ahead and find Ginny I'll try and shift some of this rock so you can come back through.

"Alright, If I'm not back in an hour get yourself out." With that Harry set off on his way down the rest of the chamber.

Finally he reached a door that resembled a manhole cover but had snakes running along the edge. He hissed at it in parsletounge and the door slowly began to swing open...

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**A/N:** Ooohhhh, Cliffy lol. Just kidding. If you've read the book or seen the movie then you know what's going to happen next. Sorry that the chapter is kind of short, I was just trying to paraphrase the book and the movie to get these first couple of chapters over with so I can get to my part of the story. I know I left some stuff out but that's because I didn't feel it was particularly important, and it would have taken longer to write it all in. If you want to know the stuff I skipped or left out you can read the book or watch the movie. I'm just writing these first few chapters as a sort of background to the story anyways. Bear with me throughout the first 2-3 chapters I promise it will get better. By the way I've decided to leave out the scene with Dobby and Lucius Malfoy in Dumbledore's office because it's not really important to this story. As always thanks for reading and please review. I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as possible.

Jon


	2. Ch2 Saving Ginny

**Disclaimer:** **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

**A/N:** Okay this is the second chapter to "The Camber and Beyond" This should be the last chapter that I write that follows the book and movie. I'm not sure if I'm going to split this up into two different stories yet. I might just have this one go on till the end of the summer after the second book and then have a sequel that starts out after the 5th book and just have Harry remember things that I want to mention from books 3-5. Anyways I still have a while before I have to decide but I value your input and would like you the readers help me decide what to do. So in your reviews just put if you want 2 different stories or one continuous story. Thanks for reading and be sure to review.

Jon

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_**The Chamber and Beyond**_

_Ch.2_

_Saving Ginny_

The door swung open and Harry slowly entered, cautious to be on the look out for the basilisk. Scanning the chamber looking for any signs of movement his gaze landed upon a still figure lying on the cold chamber floor. Harry's heart skipped a beat as he was filled with dread. 'No please don't be dead.'

He sprinted over to Ginny and started shaking her. "Ginny common wake up...please wake up...please..."

While Harry was trying to rouse Ginny, his wand forgotten on the floor beside him, a lone figure stepped out of the darkness. (Crap... I just realized I never talked about Tom Riddle in the first chapter, oh well you all know who he is, and if you don't know just read the book or watch the movie)

"She won't wake" said Tom as he approached them and picked up Harry's wand.

"You don't mean she's...dead" said Harry a look of panic and remorse crossing his features.

"No she's still alive, but only just" said Tom

A glimmer hope crossed Harry's features. "Then we've got to get her out of here, we have to save her."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." said Tom as he looked down at the crumbled form of the girl lying on the floor. "You see as poor Ginny Weasley grows weaker I grow stronger."

Harry didn't understand. "But the basilisk-"

"It won't come until its called." Tom cut him off.

Harry was beginning to understand what was going on here. He looked around for his wand and then noticed that Tom was twirling it between his fingers. Harry slowly stood up never moving his eyes off the man in front of him. "Give me my wand Tom." said Harry.

"You won't be needing it." said Tom with malice in his eyes but a cool, indifferent, facial expression.

"It was you... your the heir of Slytherin. We'll your plan didn't work, in a few hours the mandrake drought will be ready and everyone that has been petrified will be alright." (Again if you don't know what I'm talking about then read the book or watch the movie)

Tom chuckled a little. "Haven't I told you?" He said in mock absent mindedness. "Killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now my new target has been you."

Harry was shocked. "Me?"

"Yes, how is it that a mere child, with no extraordinary magical ability, was able to defeat the most powerful wizard alive? How did you survive while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?!" Yelled Tom in both Rage and confusion.

Harry was taken aback. "Why do you care how I survived? Voldemort was after your time."

"Voldemort is my past, present and future." sneered out Tom.

Harry was shocked beyond belief. "You... You're Voldemort."

"That's right. Now let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salizar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter." A sudden hissing sound came from Tom. A hole in the wall opened up and a giant snake came slithering through. Tom turned to the snake and started hissing at it. Harry took off running down the chamber being sure not to look the snake in the eyes knowing that he would die instantly if he did.

Tom yelled after him as he ran. "Parsletounge won't save you now Potter, it only answers to me!"

Suddenly a soothing melody flooded the chamber as Fawkes (Dumbledore's phoenix) entered the cave holding the sorting hat in its claws. It flew over towards Harry and dropped the sorting hat at his feet while it attacked the basilisk. Fawkes blinded the basilisk by scratching out his eyes and effectively ended the possibility of dieing by its penetrating stare.

Harry looked down at the sorting hat that was lying at his feet and noticed something inside of it. Harry reached down, grasped it, and pulled it out of the hat. It was a magnificent sword. It had a shinny steel blade with a silver handle with rubies laid into it.

Harry turned around and faced the basilisk holding the sword out in front of him. The basilisk opened its mouth ready to strike. Harry stood his ground as it lunged at him. right when it was about to bite down on him; Harry thrust the sword up through the roof of its mouth and through its brain. The Basilisk full over dead as Harry withdrew the sword from the beast.

As Harry looked at the dead monster he noticed a sharp pain in his right arm. Looking down at it he saw a long pearly white fang sticking out of his arm. He ripped it out of his arm as he slowly made his way back over to Ginny and Tom. He collapsed onto the ground in front of Ginny feeling incredibly dizzy. Then he noticed Tom speaking.

"Incredible isn't it? How quickly the venom of the basilisk invades the body. I'd guess that you had little over a minute to live." Tom said with a smirk on his face. Harry looked over at Ginny and noticed the diary in her hands.

Tom saw where Harry's gaze landed and started speaking. "Its funny the damage a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl."

A thought occurred to Harry ha griped the fang that he still had in his hand. He grabbed the diary and pulled it towards him and pierced it with the fang. Instantly ink started to squirt out of the pages as it was destroyed by the venom. The figure of Tom Riddle vanished before Harry all the while screaming for him to stop. Next to Harry, Ginny began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked at Harry. Harry heaved a mental sigh of relief at her being ok.

"Harry I'm so sorry, it was me but I swear I didn't mean to do it. Riddle made me." Ginny said super fast while tears welled up in her eyes. Her gaze traveled to Harry's injured arm. "Oh my God, Harry your hurt."

"Its just a scratch." said Harry unconvincingly. "Listen Ginny you have to get out of here. Follow the chamber and you'll find Ron." 'At least I was able to save her, even if I'm going to die here.'

Just then Fawkes came over to Harry. "You were brilliant Fawkes, I just wasn't quick enough."

The Phoenix laid its head against Harry's arm and began to cry. Harry watched as the tears fell and landed on his wound. In front of his eyes the wound began to heal and the affects of the venom began to dissipate.

"Of course, Phoenix tears have healing powers." (Again if you're confused read the book or watch the movie) Said Harry happy that he was no longer going to die. He turned back to Ginny with a heart warming smile on his face. "It's okay Ginny, everything's going to be alright."

They fallowed Fawkes back down the chamber and met up with Ron and Lockhart. The grabbed onto Fawkes tail as he carried them out of the chamber and back up to the castle.

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**A/N: **Finally. I'm done with all the recapping of the story. I cut a lot of stuff out of this chapter because I really just wanted to get it over with so I could write my own stuff. I intend for the next chapters to be longer then this one. anyways thanks for bearing with me through this recap. I know some of you were bored reading stuff over again that happened in the book but now you get to read what I want to happen from this point on. Thanks for reading and be sure to review.

Jon


	3. Ch3 A New Resolution

**Disclaimer:** **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

**A/N:** This is the third chapter in this story. This is the chapter where you begin to see my own ideas on how the story should have gone. This story will probably end up going until the end of the summer right before Harry starts his 3rd year. Then I'm going to write a sequel to this story that takes place right after Harry finishes his 5th year at Hogwarts. Anyways for this reason I decided to rate this fic T and then I'm going to rate the next one M for more adult content. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not really sure how many more chapters I'm going to make, I'm not even sure exactly what I'm going to write down. I'm just kind of making it up as I go along. Thank you for reading and be sure to review.

Jon

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_**The Chamber and Beyond**_

_Ch.3_

_A New Resolution_

As soon as they got back to the castle they went strait to Dumbledore's office to tell him what had happened. The whole way there Ginny wouldn't let go of Harry's arm as she silently cried over the whole ordeal.

Harry looked down at the frightened girl next to him with sad eyes. 'I wish there was something I could do to comfort her. Somehow let her know that this wasn't her fault, and show her that I'm there for her whenever she needs someone to confide in.'

When they entered Dumbledore's office the only thing Harry saw was a blur of red hair rushing by him to get to Ginny. When Harry turned to look at what was going on he saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley enveloping their daughter in a tight embrace. Both the parents were crying with joy at their daughters return to them and all the anxiety that they previously held, due to the lack of knowledge as to the state of their little girl's well being, completely vanished.

"Ginny! Thank God your alright!" Mrs. Weasley choked out between sobs. "We were so worried when we found out that you had been taken. We don't know how we would go on without you." Molly Weasley hugged her daughter to her again and refused to let her go.

Mr. Weasley, the more collected of the two adults, began voicing the questions that plagued the rest of the occupants of the room. "Ginny dear, can you tell us what happened? Why was it you that was taken into the chamber of secrets?"

Ginny looked down at the ground crying and trembling from fear of the ordeal she had just been through. "It all started when I found this diary with my school belongings. I didn't know how it got there but I decided that since I had it I might as well use it." Ginny lost her will to speak for a moment, remembering all the bad things the diary had made her do. "I started writing in the diary but then my words disappeared. Then someone wrote back. It was like a person was inside the diary and they were talking to me."

Dumbledore came up beside Ginny and put a comforting hand on her shoulder urging her on in her story. Ginny smiled weakly at Dumbledore before continuing onward with her story. "I found out his name was Tom Riddle and that he went to school at Hogwarts 50 years ago." Dumbledore's expression paled and his eyes were wide in surprise. Only Harry knew why Dumbledore was acting the way he was. "I started writing in the diary daily, having no friends to tell all my problems to and share my secrets with. I told Tom everything about me and my life. He appeared to be really understanding and offered me advice on how to deal with things here at school to make my life easier. I began to feel like I had a real friend. But then weird things started happening. I began writing in the diary one night and blacked out. I woke up in the morning covered in red paint with no recollection of what I did the previous night. Then I found out in the great hall that someone had written a threatening message on a corridor wall in red paint the night before. I slowly began to figure out that Tom was doing something to me but it was too late. I had no control over my actions; it was like I was possessed. Tom forced me to write the message on the wall about me being taken into the chamber. The next thing I remember is waking up in the chamber and Harry was there, he saved me; he risked his life to save mine. He defeated the basilisk and destroyed the diary and then he brought us all back here."

Harry blushed at what Ginny said and how she made him sound like hero.

Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry. "Harry is what Ginny said true? Did you save my little girl?"

Harry was turning beat red at this point as he looked down at his feet before he spoke. "It really wasn't that big a deal Mrs. Weasley. I'm sure anybody else would have done the same." Harry said trying to be modest.

Mrs. Weasley rushed over to Harry and enveloped him into a feather light hug. (Everybody says bone crushing; I wanted to be different lol) "Thank you for bringing my baby girl back to me. You're a very special young man Harry and don't let anybody tell you different." She said as she smiled down at him.

Dumbledore cleared his throat so as to gather everyone's attention. "Molly, Arthur, why don't you take Ginny down to the hospital wing. I think she should stay there for the night; Madam Pomfrey can give her a dreamless sleep drought to help her sleep at ease. Ron I would like you to sent these release papers to Azkaban Prison, I do believe we wish to have our game keeper back."

Everyone exited the room leaving Harry and Dumbledore alone.

(**A/N:** This is where the scene with Dobby and Lucious Malfoy should be but it is not important to the story so I am not going to write it in. Just pretend that its here.)

Harry was sitting in bed thinking back over the night's events. It was nearing 2 in the morning but he couldn't sleep. 'How could I not have noticed? Was I really that absorbed in my own problems that I couldn't see that she needed help? I can't help but feel that it is my fault that this happened to her. I could have prevented it so easily.'

realizing that he wasn't going to get any sleep that night until he mad sure that she was really okay, he grabbed his invisibility cloak and went downstairs, out the portrait hole, and made his way to the infirmary.

(**A/N:** From now on this: ------------ either means a gap in time or a change in P.O.V.)

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(Mrs. Weasley's P.O.V.)

Molly Weasley was sitting next to her daughter's bed in the infirmary holding her hand while she slept. She looked down at her daughter's angelic face. She couldn't even begin to process the day's events. She started out her afternoon getting a letter from her son Percy saying that her only daughter had been taken by a monster into a secret chamber at Hogwarts and left there to die. She and her husband had immediately rushed to Hogwarts after receiving the letter. After hearing that what Percy said in his letter was true she and Arthur had all there sons called from there dormitory so she could make sure that they were alright and mourn with them over the loss of Ginny. That's when she found out that Ron was missing... The teachers had checked the rest of the kids to see if anyone else was missing and that's when they found out that Harry Potter was missing as well. Then the three just showed up out of the blue: Ron covered head to food in dirt, Ginny wet and sobbing, and a battered and bloody Harry. Seeing Ginny there alive had been such a happy moment to her that she new she would be weeping tears of relief for days to come. She still had trouble believing that Harry, 'tiny little twelve year only Harry' had managed to battle a basilisk and the spirit of he-who-must-not-be-named, using only a phoenix and sword, rescue her daughter and bring her back safely.

'If there is ever anything I can do for that boy, I'm going to do it.' thought Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley looked down at Ginny and smiled; she knew that Ginny had a crush on Harry since she had first glimpsed him on platform nine and three quarters for his first year. 'You couldn't have picked a better guy to fall for Ginerva.'

Mrs. Weasley was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the Infirmary door open until she heard it click shut and heard a rustle of fabric and the pitter patter of feet on the cold tile floor. She turned around but saw no one. She immediately stood up and drew her wand. "who's there?"

Harry took of his invisibility cloak. "It's just me Mrs. Weasley."

"Goodness dear you gave me a fright." Mrs. Weasley sat back down by her daughter's side but her eyes never left Harry. They followed him to the foot of the bed where he now stood staring down at Ginny. She saw a pained emotion on his face. She could tell he was troubled, it was like he was ashamed of something, but she couldn't tell why.

"Harry, is something wrong dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked tentatively not wanting to pry since Harry was her child. 'But Harry has no family besides his aunt, uncle and cousin and they certainly don't treat him like a family should. From now on he's a part of our family, we'll treat him the way he deserves to be treated and give him the love he has been lacking in his life.'

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Weasley, We could have helped Ginny so easily if we just paid more attention to her." Harry said remorse evident in his voice.

'He blames himself for what happened? He truly is a remarkable person. He cares so much and does everything possible to protect those he's close to.' Mrs. Weasley thought. "Come sit next to me Harry." she said as she patted the seat next to her.

Harry moved from the foot of the bed over to sit next to Mrs. Weasley. Upon sitting down he curled into himself, back hunched over and face in his hands as he stared through his fingers at Ginny's sleeping form.

Mrs. Weasley put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry it is in no way your fault that this happened. Even if Ginny hadn't of been so lonely curiosity still would have driven her to right in the diary and she still would have been controlled. She is young and innocent to the ways of the world unlike others older and wiser then herself. She does not know of the evils that the world possesses and it is in the nature of the innocent to trust. That is why she was controlled by the diary."

Harry contemplated this for a moment before he spoke. "Will she be alright after everything that has happened?"

"She has learned that there are dangerous and terrible things in this world; things that do not care that she is young, or that she is kind, or that her family would love and miss her if she was gone. But there is another thing inside of her that you saved Harry and for that my family can never thank you enough. While she knows that these evil things are out there, she also knows that there are brave and handsome heroes that will slay the monsters and save her when she is frightened and alone.

Molly smiled, because she saw that even while he was feeling guilty he couldn't stop the blush that overtook his features at her comment.

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Harry woke up the next morning earlier then most of the student body. He got dressed and went down to breakfast early.

When Harry entered the great hall for breakfast he found it mostly deserted except for the few other early morning risers such as him. He glanced over to the Gryffindor table and noticed the lone figure sitting at it in the far corner.

Ginny Weasley sat staring down at her plate while pushing her breakfast around with a fork. 'She must still be thinking about what happened yesterday. I can't blame her for feeling a little down-in-the-dumps.' (I'm not sure if that's only an American expression or not. I've been trying to use British terms and slang rather then American terminology but its hard to know sometimes) He took a deep breath and walked over and sat across from her at the table. "Hi Ginny," he said quietly.

"Hi Harry," came her mumbled reply. Her face was red with a blush at him talking to her and she had not looked up at him.

"I'm sorry Ginny, for everything that's happened. I've been a poor excuse for a friend lately, but if it's okay with you I'd like another chance."

Ginny just stared at Harry for a moment with her mouth hanging open slightly in awe and confusion. She then whispered so lightly that Harry could barely hear her. "Y-you want to be m-my friend?"

"Yes Ginny, if you'll have me that is."

Ginny just looked at him for a moment and smiled. Harry realized this was the first time she had looked him in the eyes without turning away and blushing. "Thank you Harry, you don't know how much your friendship would mean to me."

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**A/N:** Well another chapter is finished with. I'm extremely happy about the way this one turned out. I don't know when I'll be able to update next. It could be as early as a week or as long as a month; I'm not even sure what I'm going to write exactly, I have ideas but I haven't had the time to sit down and put them all together to make up a chapter. I'm so busy with school and choir and band practice that I hardly have any time to myself anymore. Anyways, send your reviews telling me what you think about this chapter. Your critiques are always welcome; I use them to help in writing future chapters. If you have any ideas on what should come next in this story feel free to send them along, who knows I might like your idea so much that I use it in the next chapter; you never know. As always thanks for reading.

Jon


	4. Ch4 I Don't Pity You

**Disclaimer:** **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

**A/N: **I'm sorry it took me so long to update. Being a senior my workload is stagering and I fear it is only going to get worse. I'm sorry if you wish I would update quicker, I'm going as fast as I can really. Anyways this is the fourth chapter in this story. I decided to have this be about Harry and Ginny's last few days at Hogwarts before they return home for the summer. I hope you enjoy reading it and be sure to review.

Jon

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_**The Chamber and Beyond**_

_Ch. 4_

_I Don't Pity You_

The great hall slowly started to fill up with people coming down to breakfast. As soon as the other students caught sight of Harry and Ginny sitting at the corner of the Gryffindor table they turned to their friends, whispering and shooting glances at the pair.

'Apparently the story leaked out about me defeating the monster. Just what I need; more fame. I guess I should have expected it, after all the same thing happened when I saved the Sorcerer's Stone.'

Harry then turned to Ginny. 'I feel sorry for what I know she's about to go through. The whispering and rumors, not to mention the ever persistent questions that everyone else will undoubtingly ask her about what went on in the chamber. I'll be sure to be there for her; I won't let her feel alienated and even more alone then she does now.'

Just then Ginny looked up at Harry and met his gaze. She smiled one of her radiant smiles and Harry's stomach gave a flip and he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. 'What's going on with me? I've never had this feeling before.' But just as quick as the feeling had come it passed and he dismissed it.

"So Ginny, what do you want to do today since we don't have anymore classes and exams have been canceled?" asked Harry a bit off-handedly.

Ginny thought for a second before replying. "I don't know really. I always spent all my free time up in my dormitory, writing in the...the diary. I guess I can hang out with you and Ron today; that is if you don't mind off course, I'd hate to be a burden."

Harry felt another pang of guilt at her words. 'How could I not have noticed how alone and insecure she was?' He took a deep breath before replying. "First off Ginny, you could never be a burden so stop worrying yourself; we are friends now just like I am friends with Hermione and Ron. Secondly, Ron is going to be staying in the hospital wing today waiting for Hermione to be unpetrified so it will just be you and me today." A contemplative look crossed his features. "I guess we could go for a walk by the lake; it's a nice day out and while I would love to go flying first years aren't allowed so that's out. Maybe we'll even stop by Hagrid's for afternoon tea to welcome him back."

Ginny's eyes lit up at the prospect of spending all day with Harry. "That would be wonderful Harry, I need to grab a couple of things from my dormitory but I'll meet you back down in the Entrance Hall in lets say about twenty minutes?" she said uncertainty in her voice.

"Sounds great I'll see you then." said Harry and with that she smiled and left the table.

Harry watched as the eyes of every student followed her out of the great hall and then turned back to stair at him. 'Why can't they all just leave us alone?!'

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She couldn't believe her luck. 'I get to spend all day with Harry alone. This is what I've always wanted but still I'm nervous. What if I mess this up somehow? What if I do something to make him regret being my friend? That would just kill me.'

Ginny was walking past the infirmary on her way up to the dorms so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't see the person in front of her until she ran into them. She fell to the ground with a thud and looked up to see her brother staring down at her.

"Ron what are you doing here?" asked Ginny as Ron outstretched his hand to help his sister off the ground.

"I was just heading to the bathroom. Hermione should be waking up soon. So what are you up to, you seemed to be in pretty deep thought a moment ago." Ron asked with a curious look plastered across his face.

Ginny looked down at the floor and blushed. "Its nothing really, Harry and I were just going to spend the day together relaxing is all."

A shocked look appeared on Ron's face. "Harry is going to spend the day with you? Since when do you two spend quality time together?"

Ginny looked back up at Ron with a smile on her face. "He says he wants to spend more time with me because he hasn't been a very good friend to me up until now, or something along those lines."

Ron seemed to contemplate what Ginny had just said for a moment before replying. "You know Ginny I think Harry feels sorry about what happened to you and that's why he wants to be your friend."

Ginny's smile faded from her face as tears began to well in her eyes. "Y-you mean he only wants t-to be my friend because he pities me?" she said as her heart was silently breaking.

Ron didn't say anything he just looked down at his feet.

Ginny took that as a confirmation and she streaked off to the dormitory before Ron could even call out to her. She ran all the way up to the girl's dormitory and slammed the door shut as she went over to her four poster bed and curled up in a ball as the tears consumed her. 'How could she have been so stupid? Off course Harry didn't like her, How could he, she was just a stupid little girl. He only felt sorry for what had happened to her and nothing more.' The sobs racked her body as she lay there cursing her horrible existence.

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Harry stood down in the Entrance Hall waiting for Ginny to come back down so they could take there leisurely stroll across the grounds. He was beginning to become worried she was already 15 minutes late. He looked up the stairs for any glimpse of red hair coming towards him. He wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around him till he heard two first year Gryffindor girls mention Ginny's name. Harry turned around to face the girls as he eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Ginny's been up there for the last half-hour crying her eyes out." said the first girl.

"Do you have any idea why she's so upset?" asked the second girl.

"No idea, when I asked her she just told me to leave her alone and that she didn't want to talk about it." replied the first girl.

That was all Harry needed to hear. He took off at a run, sprinting towards the dormitory. 'I wonder if somebody asked her something about the chamber that upset her.'

As Harry was passing the infirmary he heard Ron call out to him. "Harry wait up, what's your rush?"

Harry skidded to a halt and faced Ron. "I just heard that Ginny's up in the girls dorm crying. I'm going to go check on her and see what's wrong."

Ron looked down at the floor in shame. "I may already know what's wrong."

Harry walked closer to Ron concern in his voice. "So why's she crying? Did someone say something that upset her?"

Ron took a deep breath before replying. "I guess you could say that; you see I sort of said that... well I mean I sort of implied that you were only being her friend because... because you pitied her."

Harry stood there shocked, but that feeling slowly melted away to outrage. "You said what?! What's wrong with you?! She nearly died yesterday and now you go and say this to her! Who said I wouldn't want to be her friend; yes I feel sorry for what she went through but that is not the reason that I offered her my friendship! She's kind, caring, and nice to be around; you should know that by now, being her own brother and all!" Harry yelled at him his hands clenched into fists. It was taking all his will power to control the urge to slug Ron. "I can't believe you would say something so cruel to your own sister." Harry said coldly.

With that Harry took off at a run up to the Gryffindor common room leaving Ron feeling even worse then he had before.

When Harry reached the Gryffindor common room he rushed strait to the girl's dormitory and started sprinting up the stairs. Unfortunately he only made it up about 5 steps before the magic of the castle activated turning the steps into a slide as he slid back down to the bottom.

Harry silently cursed the archaic principles of the past as he paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the girls dormitory. 'Stupid founders; won't let boys up into the girl's dormitory because they don't think they are trustworthy enough.'

Harry's mind was constantly working to try to figure out a solution to the current problem at hand. 'The only way up there without touching the staircase would be to fly up but unfortunately the staircase is just to narrow and tightly coiled to permit a broom. I'll just have to settle with asking girls that are going up to their rooms to tell Ginny that I am down here and wish to speak with her.' And so that is what he did but each an every time the girls came back with the same reply. "She doesn't wish to speak with you."

Harry spent all day and well into the night standing outside to entrance to the girl's dorms. Finally when he was to tired to stay awake anymore he sat down leaning against the wall in front of the steps and went to sleep.

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Ginny rolled over in her four poster bed wiping the sleep from her eyes. She felt drained from crying all day previously. She noticed that it was still dark in the room so she looked over at the clock on her nightstand; it read 2:30 A.M.

"ugghh, why is it still so early?" she said as she rolled over and tried to fall back asleep to no avail.

She suddenly became aware of her growling stomach. "I guess I should have figured I'd be hungry, after all I did skip lunch and dinner yesterday."

She grudgingly got up and got ready to sneak down to the kitchens to nick some food. Fred and George had told her countless times of how they got into the kitchens to steal food by tickling the pear in the painting of a bowl of fruit. As she started down the stairs that led to the Gryffindor common room Ginny was contemplating on how exactly she was going to get all the way down to the kitchen without being caught by a teacher of Filtch. (I forgot how to spell his name and I'm to lazy to go and look it up) Just as she reached the common room she tripped over something in front of the stairs. As she plummeted to the ground she braced herself for impact but instead felt arms snake around her stopping her advance to the floor. As she turned around to thank the person who caught her she locked gazes with the very person she least wanted to speak to.

"What are you doing down here Harry?" She bit out coldly as she pried herself from his grasp.

"I wanted to talk to you." He replied.

Ginny looked at him fiercely even though it was killing her on the inside to see him standing in front of her. "I think Ron helped me see all that I needed to as far as our friendship is concerned."

"Ginny, Ron was totally off base with what he said, I don't want to be friends with you because of pity." said Harry.

"Then why Harry? Why do you want to be friends with me so bad now, when you didn't care for my friendship before all this happened to me? How is now so different from before?" Ginny bit out angrily.

Harry was shocked at the amount of hurt and anger in her words. "Ginny the only reason why I didn't try to be friends with you more this year was because I thought that me being around made you uncomfortable."

Ginny looked down at her feet and blushed. 'Were my feelings for him really that obvious? He couldn't have realized why I am so nervous around him. Surely if he knew that I liked him then he wouldn't be hanging around me now, he would be trying to distance himself from me.'

Harry, in a further attempt to help her understand, spoke up again due to her silence. "Ginny did Ron ever tell you anything about my relatives?"

Ginny just looked up at him and shook her head no.

"Well they really don't like me very much, but as bad as my aunt and uncle were to me my cousin, Dudley, was by far the worst. He is twice my size and would beat me up at every opportunity. But it wasn't only me that he hurt; if he ever found out that anyone was nice to me he would beat them up and use them as a warning to anybody that might ever want to befriend me. This kept everyone away from me so I grew up without any anybody to talk to or be my friend. The point is that I know what it's like, Ginny, to be so alone that you are willing to talk to anyone and I'm sorry that I helped to make you feel that way this year. You see its not pity that I feel towards you, If anything its guilt and understanding, I'm sorry for the way I treated you and I'd really like to make up for it." said Harry with an apologetic look on his face.

Ginny stood there staring at Harry in shock. 'I can't believe the way his family treats him. How did he come out being such a nice and caring person even after all the abuse he was put through?' Finally she regained her voice. "I'm so sorry Harry, I had no idea. Of course you can be my friend."

They stood there silent for a moment before Harry finally changed the subject. "Hey Ginny what time is it?" He said as he looked around the dark common room.

"Last I checked it was 2:30." she said looking around the room also.

"What are you doing up so early?" he said curiosity getting the better of him.

"I woke up and I was hungry so I was going to go nick some food from the kitchen." said Ginny.

Just then Harry's stomach growled from lack of food. "Mind if I come with you? I skipped lunch and dinner as well and I could really use some food."

"Not at all, I could really use the company." she said with a smile on her face. "I'm not sure how were going to avoid the teachers and Filch though." She said as her mouth curved into a slight frown.

"Not a problem, I have it covered" Harry said as he dashed upstairs to get his invisibility cloak.

When he got back down they went to the kitchens to feed their growing hunger; then with that the returned to bed happy that they had finally worked out their issues.

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**A/N:** Okay that's another chapter finished with. I realized when writing this that I can't only have it in Harry's POV, so that's why I have it changing between Harry's and Ginny's POV in order to show what they both are thinking about their relationship with each other, whether it be friendship or something more. I have absolutely no clue what I'm going to write about in the next chapter. I do know that I want to skip a few days and go strait to the journey to Kings Cross Station, but I have no clue what to write about besides that. I also want to introduce Hermione somewhere in this next chapter; while this is mainly a HarryxGinny fic I would also like to write about the changes Ron and Hermione see in their friends and their take on the situation. So if anybody has any ideas please send them along, otherwise I fear it will be a long time before I update again just because I have no clue what to write next. If you don't have any ideas to send along I still urge you to review and at least tell me what you think of this chapter, I myself think that its one of my better ones but who knows maybe you hate it; whatever your feelings are towards it I would like to know. Even the simple encouragement to keep writing is great to hear. As always, thanks for reading.

Jon


	5. Ch5 Goodbye For Now

**Disclaimer:** **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long to update. I had major writer's block and it took me a long time to rediscover my muse. I did use the time that I was not writing to catch up on reading other stories that I have neglected to keep myself current on. I'm glad to be back writing this story; however, I feel that there isn't much more to it; maybe 4 more chapters including this one. I will make a sequel to this story and it will be set in either Harry's 5th or 6th year, I still haven't decided exactly which yet. The sequel will probably be rated M for more adult content. I apologize to everyone for not updating sooner; anyone who is an author knows that when you hit writer's block it takes some time to get past it. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Be sure to review.

Jon

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_**The Chamber and Beyond**_

_Ch. 5_

_Goodbye for Now..._

The remaining days spent at Hogwarts were some of the best of Ginny's life. Harry and she would rarely be seen apart from one another. They spent afternoons out on the grounds by the lake, while they spent evenings curled up next to the fire playing games like exploding snaps and wizard's chess, or just engaging in conversations about their lives growing up.

She couldn't believe that not only was she not making a fool of herself in front of Harry but that he was actively trying to be her friend. Of course this made her like him even more, after everything that happened over the past few weeks her feelings had changed towards the scruffy haired boy with the piercing green eyes. He was her best friend, he was her confidant, he was her savoir from the horrors that could have befallen her had she not been saved from the chamber of secrets, he was everything to her and there was not a moment gone by that she wasn't thinking about him. Generva no longer had a mere crush on Harry that's for sure, even at such a young age she had fallen for her black haired, green eyed, knight in shinning armor. Now how long it was going to take her to realize herself how deep her feelings really went for the young man was a different story.

Similar things could be said for Harry, he had grown attached to the youngest Weasley as well. There were things that he shared with her that he just couldn't with the others, Ron especially. Ron was his best mate and everything but there were just certain things that Harry didn't feel comfortable about sharing with him or Hermione, but with Ginny it was different. She was different from everyone he had encountered in the wizardry world so far. She didn't judge or pity him because of how he was treated when growing up. She didn't look up at his scar in awe anymore every time they encountered each other, even if she had when they had first met, in fact every time that she saw it nowadays a sad look would cross her face because she new that in exchange for that scar and the fame that came with it Harry had lost his whole world, the world that he had the possibility of experiencing where he grew up with loving parents and maybe even some siblings instead of the horrid relatives that he had to endure for the last 12 years. She saw him for who he was, not what fame made him out to be and that was refreshing for a change.

Needless to say neither of them wanted the school year to end because that would mean that they would have to go their separate ways, even if just for a little while. But even they best of times must come to a close eventually.

It was the morning of the returning trip to Kings Cross Station and everyone was trying to make the best of their few remaining moments together until they all returned after the summer holidays.

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Ron watched Harry pack his bags his mind going back and forth on what he was about to say to his best friend. You see contrary to popular belief Ron was not an idiot, although he did do and say stupid things sometimes he was still perceptive about the goings on of things around him, he noticed the inordinate amount of time that Harry and Ginny had been spending together and he noticed how close they had become. His big brother nature didn't like any guy spending 'quality time' with his little sister, even if the guy just happened to be his best friend. Deciding to start with a tactful approach he opened up a conversation with a simple statement.

"These last few days have been great haven't they, It seems like its been forever since the whole ordeal with the Chamber of Secrets instead of less then a week." said Ron hopping that Harry would take the bait so that they could get to the subject matter that Ron really wished to talk about.

"Yah it's been great, time really has been flying by hasn't it." said Harry as he placed more of his clothes neatly in his trunk.

Ron gave an inward smile, 'good, he took the bait now I just need to steer the conversation towards Ginny.' "I noticed that you've been spending a lot of time with Ginny lately, what brought on the sudden change. I know you wanted to be a better friend to her and get to know her better but recently it's like you two are never apart; Hermione and I hardly even see you anymore."

Harry stopped packing for a moment to contemplate his answer. "I'm not sure exactly why but I have this constant need to be around her. I have so much fun when we're together; I forget about all the pressures and bad things in life: from something as simple as exams and having to go back and deal with my relatives over summer to something as major as the fact that I have an evil wizard out there who wants me dead. She makes me smile even when I feel like I'll never be happy again. I just can't put words to the feeling I get when she's around." With that Harry went back to packing his stuff without even looking at Ron to see his reaction to what he said.

Ron stood there shocked at what Harry just said. He didn't know what Harry was going to say as a response to his question but he certainly did not expect to hear that. None the less he gave himself a mental shake and continued on with what he wanted to say. "Harry, don't take this as an attack on your personality because I know you're a really good guy; this is just my big brother nature kicking in. There aren't many things I would kill for but I would go to the end of the earth and back to protect my baby sister from any type of hurt that she could possibly encounter." Ron paused to let this statement sink in.

At first Harry was confused about what Ron was getting at but as he turned around and saw Ron staring at him with determination on his face he understood what he meant. 'He thinks there is something going on between me and Ginny, something more then just friendship, and he's afraid that I might hurt her emotionally.' "Ron, I assure you, Ginny and I are just friends; really good friends, but friends none-the-less."

"Are you sure?" said Ron. He wanted to believe Harry, but even he saw the looks that Harry gave his sister and they didn't appear to be looks that one friend would give another.

"I swear to you Ron nothing is going on." said Harry. He was shocked by the amount of protectiveness that Ron was showing for Ginny. 'He must really care for her a lot. I think the event with the Chamber of Secrets has increased his need to keep Ginny out of harms way, even if he was going a little overboard at the moment; after all this is me were talking about, I would never do anything to hurt Ginny.'

Ron looked at Harry skeptically but he decided to take his word for it. "Alright Harry, I believe you." 'But you better believe that I'm going to keep a close eye on you as far as my sister is concerned.' he added as a mental after note. 'I should talk to Hermione and get her take on the subject, she can give me a girls perspective on things not to mention she is more perceptive then I am; I'm more of a punch first ask questions latter kind of guy.' A smile crossed Ron's features as he thought about Hermione. (I know this is a HarryxGinny fic but I couldn't help myself, I'm even thinking of adding a RonxHermione chapter, mostly just to make the fic longer because I feel I'm running out of things to write which seems to happen a lot when you first start out writing)

"What are you smiling about?" Harry was confused at how Ron could go from all serious to grinning like a kid in a candy store so quickly.

"What?... Oh nothing." said Ron blushing and turning away. 'What's wrong with me I shouldn't be thinking about things like that?'

"Whatever, lets just get back to packing otherwise we'll miss the train." said Harry starting to get annoyed but still relieved that Ron backed off about the time that Ginny and him were spending together.

"Yah, your right" said Ron as he turned back to finish packing his own things.

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Back up in the Girls dormitories Ginny and Hermione were having a similar conversation.

The two girls sat on Ginny's bed in the deserted dormitory talking to one another having already finished their packing due to Hermione's constant need to do things early; they had ended up packing last night.

"So you and Harry have been spending a lot of time together. What exactly have you two been doing?" Hermione said giving Ginny a suggestive wink which made Ginny blush and look down at her hands.

"We haven't been doing anything like that. (I'm referring to kissing here! Get your minds out of the gutters, remember she's 11 and Harry's 12 there way to young for stuff like that) In fact I'm really not sure of his feelings towards me. He's been really nice and we have a lot of fun together but he hasn't hinted towards anything beyond friendship, I'm afraid he'll never feel the same way about me that I feel about him. I'm beginning to think it's a lost cause." said Ginny sadness and defeat in her voice.

Hermione felt bad for her new friend. In the short time that Hermione had spent with Ginny over the last couple of days, and I mean really short because Harry took up most of Ginny's time, she has started to think of her like a sister. Hermione had fun hanging out with Ron and Harry but she needs a girl to talk to and confide in. Ginny was just that girl, she could be there for her and vice versa. "Come on Gin I'm sure he'll come around. I see the way he looks at you, its obvious he cares, maybe he just hasn't realized it himself yet." said Hermione as she embraced the smaller girl.

"It's just so hard, having these feelings for someone and having no way of knowing if those feelings are returned. It's just hard sometimes when we're talking, or playing games, or even just sitting in silence and he looks over at me and smiles it lifts up my heart and shatters it at the same time thinking that he only cares about me as just a friend... a friend like you or Ron. You have no idea what that feels like." Ginny said in an exasperated tone.

Ginny's statement hit Hermione hard, it's almost word for word exactly how she felt about a certain one of her friends. She knew exactly how Ginny was feeling but had no idea how to fix it because she was struggling with the same thing herself.

Hermione sighed, "Just give him time Ginny, he'll realize what he's missing and come to you, just wait and see. Guys can be slow that way; you just have to give them time to figure things out for themselves. Now let's get our stuff and head down to the common room and wait for the boys, no doubt their still packing because they waited to the last minute."

The girls giggled and got off the bed. They grabbed their trunks and Hermione did some quick charm work to levitate them down the staircase to the common room. (I realized that I didn't have any magic in any of my chapters and since this is about wizards and witches I felt that I should add some spells here and there)

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As Ron and Harry were about to leave the boys dormitory Neville came up carrying a message with him.

"Hey Harry I ran into professor Dumbledore as I was leaving the great hall after breakfast and he asked me to give this to you." He handed it to Harry and Harry unraveled it with curiosity. Once Harry had the note opened he read it out loud so the other two would know what the message said.

"_Harry, I'd be very appreciative if you would stop by my office so we could have a chat before you head down to the station to return home for your summer holiday. Albus Dumbledore. P.S. I enjoy licorice wands. " _Harry finished reading the note out loud and looked up at the other two.

Ron was the first one to speak, "What's with the part about licorice wands?" Harry gave Ron a look silently wondering how Ron could be anymore dense sometimes, "It's the password to get into his office Ron."

"Oh! Makes sense," said Ron as he finally made the connection.

"I wonder what Dumbledore wants to talk to you about Harry?" said Neville looking between Harry and the note curiously.

"Not sure, I guess I'll just have to go and find out," replied Harry and with that he sprinted off down the staircase to the boys dormitory, out the portrait hole and off towards Dumbledore's office.

Harry arrived outside of the stone gargoyle slightly out of breath. He bent over taking in deep gulps of air for a minute before standing up erect, giving the stone gargoyle the password and ascending the revolving stone staircase that lead up to Dumbledore's office. Once in front of the door he took a moment to compose himself before knocking three times, even though he had been in here before being asked to come here for a private chat with the headmaster was a slightly nerve-racking experience for the second year.

Harry heard a polite, "you may enter," come from the other side of the door and Harry slowly opened it to reveal Dumbledore sitting at his desk examining the old diary that had until recently contained the memories of Tom Riddle.

"Ah Harry glad you could make it, I was concerned that my note may have not made it to you in time before your boarded the train home, please sit down," said Dumbledore in a pleasant tone of voice.

Harry crossed the room and sat in the chair on the other side of Dumbledore's desk and looked up expectantly.

"I noticed you've been spending a lot of time with Miss Weasley recently, you two are becoming quite close aren't you?" asked Dumbledore.

Harry as a bit confused what this had to do with the reason Dumbledore asked him to come to his office to talk about but he decided to answer truthfully, besides he had the feeling that he wouldn't be able to put one over on Dumbledore, "yes we've become really good friends."

Dumbledore smiled warmly and that ever present twinkle that as in his eye shone brightly. "I'm glad to hear that Harry, I can't think of a better friend that Miss Weasley could possibly have. As her friend I'm sure you feel protective of her correct? You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her?" said Dumbledore in a semi-serious tone.

It was at this point that Harry went passed mere confusion into full on bewilderment. 'What was Dumbledore trying to say, was Ginny in Danger somehow?' Thinking about Ginny possibly in danger caused Harry to jump up from his seat, "What do you mean sir, is Ginny in trouble? I thought with the Diary destroyed and the Basilik dead she was safe. There couldn't possibly be something else after her could there be?" His words came rushing out so fast that all of his questions seemed to blur together.

Dumbledore just chuckled and motioned for Harry to sit back down but then his face took on a serious expression. "No Harry it's nothing like that though I fear that her experience with the diary and with Tom Riddle may have changed her forever… I'm sure she's been having nightmares am I correct?"

Harry wondered how Dumbledore could know this but again he decided to stick with the truth even though Ginny had promised him not to tell anyone, if the headmaster could possibly help her with her nightmares then maybe it was worth betraying her confidence in this small matter, he just wanted her to be okay. "She has sir, she promised me not to tell anyone… Is there anyway you can help her make her nightmares go away?"

Dumbledore sighed, "I'm afraid not Harry only a dreamless sleep potion can do that but I would not suggest it, they are terribly addictive if taken regularly and if you accidentally take too much there is a possibility that you may never wake up. No there is no magic that can help Miss Weasley with her nightmares but I do believe that you may be able to be of some service to her in the management of her nightmares."

Harry went back to his confused state once again which seemed to happen a lot during his conversations with the headmaster, "How could I possibly help her sir?"

"Harry what I'm about to tell you is to stay between you and me," said Dumbledore, "I fear that Miss Weasley is not yet ready to hear the truth. I believe that when Voldemort possessed Miss Weasley through the use of the diary that another thing also took place. You see Voldemort needed Miss Weasley's strength in order to escape the diary but in return when the diary was destroyed I think that some of Voldemort's abilities may have transferred to Miss Weasley without her knowledge. The only other person that this has happened to in history is you Harry so I think you would be the perfect person to help Miss Weasley through the changes she might go through in the near future." said Dumbledore as he stared over his half-moon spectacles at Harry.

"So Ginny is going to be like me?" asked Harry trying to process the situation.

"I do not know the extent of which powers Miss Weasley may have acquired Harry so I can not say as to whether or not she will have the same gifts that you do. I do suggest that you keep an eye out for the emergence of these powers though, I have a feeling she'll be terrible confused and maybe even frightened by it and she'll want a friend there to help her through it. I will be keeping an eye out as well rest assured but I think that having you there is the best solution because after all nobody knows better what it's like to have Voldemort's gifts like you do Harry." said Dumbledore in all seriousness.

Harry thought over everything that Dumbledore had just shared with him before he answered, "If you think that me being there will help her then I'll do my best professor although I would have done everything in my ability to help Ginny anyway."

"That's just what I wanted to hear Harry," said Dumbledore smiling, "No I think you better run along back to the Gryffindor common room to collect your belongings and head down to the train before you miss your ride back."

"Okay professor," Harry said as he got up and exited the room. Harry descended the spiral staircase and sprinted off towards the common room to meet up with Ron, Hermione and Ginny before heading down to the gates to take the carriages to Hogsmeade station.

Harry entered the portrait hole to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny waiting for him in the common room with all of there luggage already with them, Harry noticed that Ron had brought down his things for him and he smiled at him in appreciation. "You ready to go mate?" said Ron, "If we don't head down now we're going to miss the train."

Harry looked at them all, his eyes lingering on Ginny, before replying that he was ready. Together they sprinted down the staircases, through the entrance hall, and towards the gates at the end of the school grounds. They barely made it in time to catch the last carriage before it took off down to Hogsmeade Station. As they were heading down the winding dirt road they all turned back to look at the castle as it began to shrink away in the distance.

"You know in spite of all the things that happened this year I'm going to miss being here." said Ginny as she turned back around to face the rest of the occupants of the carriage.

"I know what you mean, Hogwarts is my home, I can't stand having to leave and go back to the Dursley's." Said Harry a scowl on his face.

"Well at least look at it this way, I'm sure you wont have to stay at your aunt and uncle's all summer. We'll probably come get you so that you can stay with us for part of the Holidays, Hermione too." said Ron trying to lighten the mood.

"That would be great!" said Harry smiling. Harry took one last look at the castle, "I wonder if we will ever have a normal school year, with no evil wizards or monsters out to get us?"

"As long as your here Harry I doubt it." replied Ron in a joking tone.

The carriage stopped in front of the train and the four friends stepped out and into the crowd of students waiting to board.

They boarded the train and grabbed a compartment together. Harry sat across from Ginny and she shot a radiant smile his way. His thoughts strayed to everything Dumbledore had told him about hat Ginny might be in store for in the days, weeks, months and even years to come. He then made a promise to himself that not matter what happened he'd be there to help her through whatever she needed.

The rest of the trip to King's Cross Station Harry and Ginny spent in comfortable silence as they listened to Hermione talk about what she had planned with her parents during this summer vacation as well as Ron rattle off a list of things that they should do once they came over to visit for the rest of summer vacation.

The train slowly came to a halt and they grabbed their stuff as the disembarked the train to meet up with their respective families. Harry, Ron and Ginny bid Hermione goodbye as she headed through the barrier to meet her parents who ere waiting for her on the other side. Harry then turned to Ron and said his goodbyes before he went to join his family. Ginny was the last to say her goodbyes to Harry.

Ginny stepped forward and embraced Harry in a tight hug before she spoke, "Promise me you'll write to me this summer." She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Of course I will Gin, every week." Harry said as he smiled don at her.

She smiled back before tightening the hug for a second and then letting go. "I'm sure we'll invite you over really soon, I hope the Dursleys aren't too horrible to you while you're there," she said to him as she stepped away.

"They will be, but I can handle it," said Harry as he gave her a cocky grin, "I can't wait to see you again over the summer; I'll be counting the days."

She beamed up at him then stood on her tippy-toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As she pooled away they both had a slight red tint to their faces and averted their eyes from one another.

"I'll miss you Harry, take care," said Ginny as she began to walk away from him and towards her family.

"I'll miss you too Gin!" Harry yelled back as he turned towards the barrier that he knew his relatives stood right on the other side of awaiting his arrival.

He sighed and took a step forward, 'this is going to be a long summer,' he though and he took a step through the barrier.

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**A/N: **Well I do believe that this is the longest chapter that I have written so far and I'm very, very pleased with how it turned out. Your opinions may vary however and I am always open to constructive criticism. It may be a long time before I update again. My heart has just not been in anything lately, relationship problems have been turning me into the stereotypical mope who doesn't want to leave his bed everyday to go to work or see anybody or be upheld to any of my other responsibilities… But you never know maybe I'll have the drive to write some more soon, again I apologize to all of my faithful readers who had to wait such a long time for me to update my story. Again thanks for reading and be sure to review.

Jon


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